The headlines read something like “Filipinos 3rd ‘most ignorant’ country on key national issues” and, of course, the discussions started based only on the headlines. The initial reaction of many was, “Look how stupid Filipinos are”, showing their own ignorance by not having any idea of the definition of “ignorance” or what the survey was actually about.
The survey was conducted by the Ipsos Group, a global market research and a consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The title is the Perils of Perception and examines the perceptions people have versus the reality of the facts. The old idea that “perception is reality” is wrong. But ignorance—not knowing—of the facts can sway people into accepting ineffective national policies and may give a false impression of their own country.
People were asked what they believed about other people. For example, one question was, “Out of every 100 people aged 20-79 in your country, about how many do you think have diabetes?” Filipinos perceived that 45 percent of the people suffered from diabetes. The actual number is much lower at about 7 percent. The survey results showed that people in every country overestimate the extent of diabetes in their own country, with some thinking nearly half of their population have this health condition.
“Out of every 100 deaths of women and girls aged 15 to 24, about how many do you think were by suicide?” Here again Filipinos missed the reality by a wide margin, saying 20 percent when the actual number is less than 4 percent. Filipinos also assumed that 86 percent of the country owns a smartphone, but the actual percentage is closer to 30 percent. We also think everyone owns an automobile (61 percent), when actual ownership is less than 10 percent.
Ninety-four percent of Filipinos “say they believe in heaven,” even as the perception is that only 82 percent actually do look to an afterlife paradise.
You can search the numbers on these issues of national importance yourself at https://www.ipsos.com.
The countries that had the most accurate perceptions of their country were Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The least accurate were South Africa, India and the Philippines. But this is the most interesting, maybe bizarre, aspect of the survey. “Despite being among the least accurate, respondents in India, the Philippines and Peru are among the most confident in their answers. In contrast, Norway, Germany and Sweden come out among the most accurate in the Index, but are among the least confident in their answers.”
Ipsos does not offer any explanation for this result.
Are Filipino perceptions sometimes far removed from the reality? Absolutely. Are Filipinos overconfident about the accuracy of their perceptions? Obviously. Perhaps, though, this has more to do with 100 million Filipinos of huge disparity of wealth, education and access to reliable information spread over thousands of islands, rather than “stupid” as the Filipino bashers want us to believe. Their perception is wrong.